Hay-On-Sky

2009-05-31T04:47:00.000-07:00

Before embarking on our mini road trip to Hay, we were told that the weather in Hay was lovely and it had only rained 1 day. Even so, I decided to pack for every eventuality. So in went the jumpers, big woolly socks, scarves, a hat, gloves, sunglasses and last but not least the wellies. The drive down was lovely and once we finally reached Hay (the very, very scenic route - all I have is 2 words, sat nav - or is it one?), the sun was out and there was no mud in sight. After getting drenched through last year, I was amazed and very, very pleased that I wouldn't be looking like a drowned rat.

When we arrived, it was all a-go. The show had already started recording but due to a power cut, we were in time for part 2 which had the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams and Cornelia Funke, the author of Inkhart.

I then attended lots of sessions. When China Rules The World with Martin Jacques was interesting as he talked about the power shift between America and China and he theorizes that in the future, China will be the leading nation and not America or Russia. I found this particularly interesting being a Belgian born Chinese person brought up in the west as although I am Chinese through and through, I actually don't know as much about China or the culture as I should do. The best one session was Dara O'Briain who brought his stand-up routine to Hay. It was hilarious and now I love him even more. He brought the house down and I'll be trying to get tickets for his next tour!

The weather was great on Saturday too. No wellies in sight! I love Hay in the sun. The first session of the day was called The Language of Design with Deyan Sudjic. The session was really fascinating and showed us that design impacts upon every part of our lives and defines us culturally and personally. Our next session was with Marina Hyde and Mark Borkowski which discussed the topic of celebrity and how they are used as ambassadors rather than experts to highlight issues such as peace in the Middle East.

We then sat in the truck for the recording of Hay-On-Sky and it was very interesting to see how it works from that end rather than sitting and watching it in the studio. There are so many TV screens in there and buttons, I'd get confused about which ones to press but the experts in the gallery were great and it showed us how much work is involved and how each person's role fits in. The guests were fantastic too: Immodesty Blaize, David Simon (creator of The Wire) and Sarah Waters, a great mix of people.

I then attended a session on the study of the Battle of Normandy, one with Arthur Smith and finally Alan Bennett. This is what I love about Hay. You get to go to such a variety of sessions. I didn't get to go to Jeremy Paxman which I would have loved to have done but maybe next time.

This morning, another sunny day in Hay, I went to see Andrew Davies talk about his adaptation of Little Dorrit. I love his adaptations of Jane Austen and although I didn't manage to watch all episodes of Little Dorrit (I'll be getting the DVD though), I really enjoyed this session. I love a bit of costume drama! He was then asked what his favourite piece of work was and he said that A Very Peculiar Practice was the one that meant the most to him as it was his own creation. Well, it just so happens that Sky Arts 1 has both series and A Very Polish Practice playing in our drama slot which we duly told him when we got our book signed by him. He seemed to be very pleased with this fact and told us how disappointing it was that the BBC never repeated the shows and he wanted a copy of the second series as this isn't on sale in the shops. That was very nice and he said he'd heard really good things about Sky Arts which is always good to hear.

I'm now off to see Simon Schama which should be an excellent session so I will now be signing off.... Maybe I could get one of those really nice ice creams too.....

Tracy, Sky Arts Scheduler

Wrong kind of electric

2009-05-29T08:29:00.000-07:00

Today has not been such a great day for the team. The Hay-on-Sky recording was interrupted and badly delayed by power cuts, and for a brief moment we had to consider not making the programme at all. After some ingenious work from the technical guys, we did manage to record the programme, but it was shot in front of a half-empty audience. In three years of broadcasting from the field, this was the first time we'd suffered from technical difficulties this badly. A long day's work still becons for the technical team to find out what caused the electricity problems.

Most of the team are going to see Jo Brand and Dara O'Brien tonight, but if that's not going to lift everyone's spirits, then tomorrow's wrap party will. The invitation, beautifully made by Gemma the graphics genius, suggests there'll be wellie throwing. Having been successful in no sport whatsoever in my life, I can't trust in any natural talent and I've done my research. How to hold the boot and how to throw it - it's all been examined. A few practice runs later, I should be unbeatable. Or at least not the worst.

Sari, Editor-in-field

Desmond Tutu ahead of team BBQ

2009-05-28T09:21:00.000-07:00

We have all fallen in love with Desmond Tutu. The great man dropped by the Hay-on-Sky studio for an interview with Mariella Frostrup and charmed us all. Not only does he have the most infections giggle, he also confessed a great love for showbusiness and bid fairwell to us all warmly as he left the studio. Had his schedule allowed, we could've kept him in the studio for much longer.

The sunshine has come out today again so I've been able to abandon my big, offending boots. Annalisa spent the day shedding blood ... sorry, shearing sheep and only harmed one in the process. Strangely, the sheep in the surrounding hills have spent today nearer to our backstage area than ever before, perhaps trying to avoid Annalisa who was up on the hills.

The team is heading for a barbeque tonight, prepared for us by Channel Manager John and Executive Producer Laura. Our chef Ed, the only one actually qualified to cook to large crowds, is joining the party but not cooking. Methinks there is a lot wrong with this picture. He's a chef. He can cook. John claims he has a cooking qualification from school and therefore should cook the meats. Laura is self-taught and in charge of salads. So much can go wrong here.

Should there be no blog or programming coming to you from the Hay Festival in the next few days, send some help. Sky Arts may have food poisoned themselves somewhere in the hills of Hay-on-Wye.

Shoe update

2009-05-27T07:54:00.000-07:00

Update on Welly News: they aren't very good. As I climbed on the set at the end of today's Hay-on-Sky recording, I tripped on the boots which are approximately the size of Sweden. Thankfully I didn't fall over, but it wasn't exactly my most graceful moment in the life of editor-in-field.

This has reminded me of my first trip to the theatre. I was about 4 years old and mother, who had misjudged our materialistic tendencies, had bought my sister and I new dresses for the occasion. We were beyond ecstatic in the weeks leading up to theatre visit and mother was proud she'd raised two daughters who appreciated culture from a very early age.

When Theatre Day finally arrived, we got to put our dresses on and... fell asleep. The excitement about the dresses was simply too much to take. We went to the theatre, with both my sister and I sleeping through the performance, and mother resisted the temptation -a strong temptation, as she often points out- to give us away for being materialistic and not artistic.

This is how this boot situation has felt too. I bought them, excitedly waited to wear them for weeks and now that I've put them on, the fun is gone. I have a deep love for all things material, but perhaps love of art would give me a longer buzz. Or at least not ill-fitting boots.

Zzzzz.....

2009-05-27T02:59:00.000-07:00

Went to see Hugh Masakela last night and think I developed a bit of a crush on the old man! Hugh, who walked on stage looking a little fragile, got the audience dancing three songs in and suddenly his one hour gig turned into a two hour feast of musical genius. The show was also recorded by the Sky Arts cameras for broadcast in the next week, but how the concert can be squeezed into an hour is a different thing. Bizarrely, two people around us also fell asleep mid-concert, which made me wonder - how draining can a literary festival be?

The Sky Arts crew have been here for eight days. In that time, I've not made it to my bed (or anyone else's for that matter) even once until well past midnight. It seems every dinner comes equipped with colossal amounts of wine which, just to be polite, we have drank. Lots of work, lots of food, lots of wine and lots of late nights maketh the literary festival a rather draining experience. But for a visitor to come here, pay ... I can't find the pound sign on this keyboard with US settings!!... pay 23 quid to see Hugh Masakela and then sleep through the rather loud experience I don't quite understand. This is Hay, not the Love Parade!

My main point of joy today is the rain - not because it's cold and quite horrible outside, but because I can use my wellies and my new waterproof coat! Had my traumatising visits to camping shops and purchases of rainproof products I won't know what to do with upon return to suburbia been for nothing, I may have shed a little tear. Where else if not at Hay will I ever need to use a coat that can be folded into a rucksack?!

Sari, editor-in-brand-new-wellies

Hay-on-Wye-on-Sky

2009-05-26T08:18:00.000-07:00

Bank Holiday Monday morning and off to Hay. Remarkably civilised journey - train deserted and able to stretch out, do e-mails, read the paper and screen a load of Arts Council films. Get to Hereford and take the scenic route (i.e. bus). Saved a fortune in terms of Taxi fare which is good. Arrive on site just as the music for the Hay-on-Sky show starts from the studio. Not so good. So, sit in the press portacabin to watch the show on a monitor instead. Show's entertaining and goes well.

Get my crew pass, my swanky Sky Arts wellies and am ready to go. But something's not quite right... yep, the sun's out and it's not raining. The previous two year's it's been like the Somme given the rain and mud and now it's sunny. Dump my bag in the Sky Arts house, bid farewell to four colleagues who've been here the weekend and, leaving wellies in the Sky Arts hut, don sunnies and set off to explore the festival before the filming of the final What the Dickens?

Before the recording there's a really cool 3D demo - unfortunately an audience member close by doesn't have the necessary (and coolly retro Ray Ban Wayfarer-style) 3D shades so I give her mine. Audience love the 3D reel.

The show's hilarious. Sandi Toksvig's hilarious as are the team captains Chris and the lovely Sue Perkins. Great Picasso gag at the end which Sandi seems to love more than anything - she even manages to get it into her interview the following day on Hay-on-Sky...

Evening session - the legend that is Tony Curtis... Saw him earlier in the year at the National Film Theatre for a Q+A following a screening of Some Like It Hot. He's 84 next week and built like a bull. Albeit a slightly fragile one. In a wheelchair. I know what I mean. Without his wig but wearing a white stetson he pulls himself forward with his feet to the front of the stage to revel in the applause from the full house. The next hour flies by as Francine Stock tries to get a word in and keep him on track. As you'd expect from someone who's made 155+ movies and had a 50 year career in Hollywood, the anecdotes fly thick and fast. Marilyn, obviously, is discussed and Tony puts to rest once and for story about him being quoted as saying kissing her was 'like kissing Hitler'. His full reply when asked 'what was it like kissing Marilyn?' was along the lines of 'like kissing Hitler, what d'you think?'...

There's time for his Cary Grant impression and, despite two power cuts, this living legend has the audience enthralled. Francine Stock may have regretted mentioning his conquests and, in particular, two stars who don't come off well in his new autobiography - Shelley Winters and Joan Collins. Stock asks if this is because they turned him down. 'They didn't turn me down, They weren't invited' is Tony's reply.

His anecdote about why he isn't a member of the Joan Collins fan club turns the air rather blue as he describes filming an ep of 'The Persuaders' with her and being forced to wait while she got herself ready despite the cameras being about to roll. Ms. Collins didn't take kindly to Curtis saying 'Joan will you stop being a c**t'. Collins then leaned out the window calling to the director 'He called me a c**t!!'. The audience crack up but Tony apologises for the language.

Later as I'm walking back to Hay I walk past a dad talking to his son who's about 10 or 11. I catch a snippet of their conversation as the dad say '...I guess he just didn't like working with Joan Collins...'

Then it's the wrap party for What the Dickens in the Three Tuns pub - low ceilings I discover on at least three occasions... ouch.

Tuesday - it's still sunny. What is going on here?

After breakfast off to the site bookshop to pick up some books for my son, then head into Hay to take some photos for the Hay website and the blogs. More books for Jake, a few cups of coffee and buy a giant promotional Lego figure for Jake. Forget that I've got to lug all this (and virgin Sky Arts wellies) back home. Doh! That said, my collection of promotional hessian bags is growing so maybe they'll be useful after all...

Sun damage

2009-05-25T03:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the hottest day of the year so far, inevitably leading to pale, studio-bound crew sitting in the sun and burning themselves. The worst casualty of Sunshine-gate was Freya, our Arts Sponsorship Assistant, who was in the sunshine for the whole day and ended up with very badly burnt arms. While we all tried to be sympathetic, concern over lack of tickets for the best party of last night, the Big Chill DJ bash, took over.

After damage control with Freya's arms was finished, we witnessed Annalisa's unlimited powers. With every taxi company in the tri-state area fully booked, she secured a 16-seater minibus for us at 10pm on a Sunday night in Hay. She is the undisputed Queen of Hay and surely will soon walk on water.

Today is the last day with three shows to record and the crew is looking forward to a slightly less frantic Hay experience from tomorrow onwards. Many of us are also looking forward to a good night's sleep - how rock 'n' roll of us!

Today's highlight will certainly be Stephen Fry who will chat to Mariella in Hay-on-Sky. The question is, will he Twitter about Sky Arts?

Sari, Editor-in-field

Backstreet's back, alright

2009-05-24T04:05:00.000-07:00

The sun has come out in force today. With not a cloud in the sky and with no full length mirror in the house, I got dressed in what I assumed looked summery. Once I got to the festival site, I noticed people looking at me in a manner rarely associated with admiration. So I found a full length mirror and was confronted with an image of an extra member of the Backstreet Boys from circa 1999. I'm now doing my best to pull off this outfit until time allows for a quick trip to the festival shops for some accessories from this millennium.

So to distract everyone from the mistaken wardrobe choice, I armed myself with a video camera. The results were immediate. Sky Arts' very own Annalisa Johnson and Jonathan Carter agreed to do a video blog of the first two days at the festival. Whether they were frightened that the 90s had returned or if they really wanted to do this no one will ever know, but this is what they had to say...

In a few moments Dave Gorman, David Starkey and Markus Zusak will face Mariella's interrogation on Hay-on-Sky. I'm going there armed with a stills camera and pray to lord my trousers aren't too transparent in the bright lights of the studio...

Sari, Editor-in-white

Hay-on-Sky for the festival virgin

2009-05-22T10:34:00.000-07:00

As a Hay Festival virgin, I duly believed everything I'd been told about this event. It will rain. It will be cold. There are apocalyptic amounts of mud. I will need more clothes for Hay than a combined trip to the Alps and the Bahamas. It sounded like I was being sent to Kabul. After day one, I'm still alive to write this so I suspect it's not as bad as Kabul.

During the drive here, the roads got progressively smaller until it was just a tiny lane barely the width of a small car. I fully expected to hit a cow. I thought I saw a dog shepherding sheep on a big field, until I realised the sheep were running away from my car. I felt like Jeremy Clarkson -a shorter and younger version, I hasten to add- driving the narrow lanes with a tad too much speed. Occasionally I stopped to take photos, which were to serve as evidence of good times should my rally skills fail me. A dinner and a late night wander around Hay trying to locate one of our crew houses later, we were ready for the festival.

It's been an excellent first day for the Sky Arts team. The first Hay-on-Sky programme featured the comedienne and impersonator Jan Ravens, author Horatio Clare and food critic Jay Rayner, with music from Asian Dub Foundation. Everyting went more or less to plan and the guests and Mariella were all on brilliant form. What The Dickens? saw the recording of its first episode finish just a little while ago to a packed audience, and featured Rick Wakeman's impromptu opera about a hanky. It's compulsive viewing, and shall be on the Sky Arts website very soon indeed!

So far it hasn't rained a drop. It's not that cold (she writes, sitting next to the radiator on full blast). I haven't had to utilise my brand new wellies yet because there is no mud on the site. I am, however, sad to report that while everyone else in the Sky Arts team are now donning their new Sky Arts branded wellies, mine came two sizes too big and looked like I was wearing a canoe on each foot. Not a sight that would promote any brand, I can assure you.

Tomorrow is another day of excellent guests and events so shall keep you posted on progress.
Sari - editor in field

Author Charles Cumming on the Hay-on-Sky '08 webcam CLIP 1

2009-03-02T04:17:00.000-08:00

Charles Cumming, Hay-on-Sky ’08 webcam exclusive:
Tackling China for his latest novel…(we get rudely interrupted by a car alarm going off on this one!)

Alex Valentine, guest performer on Hay-on-Sky, videoblogs backstage...

2008-05-31T05:56:00.000-07:00

To find out more about Alex's music, click HERE

Annalisa, production co-ordinator and Seth Lakeman's biggest fan...

2008-05-31T05:30:00.000-07:00

The lovely, and wildly talented Seth Lakeman and band: Double-click the play button to watch Annalisa's videoblog...

What's all the fuss about? Click HERE to find out!!

Red House prize for children's books awarded last night to...

2008-05-31T03:33:00.000-07:00

Derek Landy popped into the web office here backstage at the Sky Arts Studio at the Hay Festival to tell us a little bit about the trials and tribulations of physically getting himself to Hay-on-Wye!

Turns out it was well worth the hassle as he bagged the Red House children's book prize at the awards doo last night - see the piece in the Guardian HERE.

Sinead, Editor-in-Field.

8 in the bag...two to go.

2008-05-30T08:59:00.000-07:00

This videoblog should have gone up late last night, but the upload speed in the field disappeared and we've all been too busy today, with working, eating and birthday celebrations (for me and and for Justin) so here it is now...

Additionally...yesterday was great 'cause I got to chat to the great Kathleen Turner on the sofa while doing the Hay-on-Sky show. I ended up in shot too so I'm glad I was on my best behaviour... She's really been enjoying the festival and told me she's loved the sessions she's gone to and the fact that all these great minds and talents are all in one field! She even came to our wrap part for our What The Dickens? series that we'd filmed here. I had a bit of a 'moment' when I stood in the room (we hadn't been expecting celebs at this particular crew party - but the room was chocca full of 'em!) looking at the A-list Hollywood talent and panning right to the balloons on a string on the far wall....A-list Hollywood talent...balloons on a string...surreal stuff. Party planning consultants, take heed.

I recorded a videoblog with our musical performer Alex Valentine later - he was great and then we all went to see Kathleen Turner's session which was very entertaining. I'm definately getting my hands on that book - Heat magazine, hang thy head in shame - THIS is celebrity gossip at its finest. My cousin (Derek Landy, author of Skulduggery Pleasant) came to Kathleen's session with us - he did a session himself today called 'Question Time: Being a Writer', along with Graham Marks (Tokyo, Strange Hiding Place) and Andy Stanton (Mr Gum and the Power Crystals) and at the end he made the hundreds of worshipping young fans shout 'happy birthday Sinead' to me which was mildly embarassing as I was lurking at the side recording clips & snapping pics.

Then my boss came and told me & Justin that he needed us for an important meeting about the show and lead us into a colleague-filled trailer where there were balloons, booze, cake and pressies. Excellent :-)

We'd Dan Cruickshank as a guest on Hay-on-Sky today and some of us are off to see his session this evening - Adventures in Architecture, then we're off to the Book People/Red House party somewhere nearby and then back to the festival for the Seth Lakeman gig. Then, we shall sleep. The weekend awaits us. Show 9 and 10. Including What The Dickens? we'll have made 16 brilliant HD programmes in this muddy field by Sunday. Then we're all back to Osterley, Sky's HQ. Mental note to self: remember to not wear muddly wellies into the office on Monday...

Sinead, Editor-in-Field.

Wellies? Ready. Sunnies? Ready. Waterproof gear?... Doh!

2008-05-29T06:23:00.000-07:00

Last year on my first visit to Hay, I managed to avoid all the rain. I remember hearing the horror stories of it raining constantly, it being so cold that they had to buy jumpers and socks and that it was just wet, wet, wet (I don't know they played here last year?! - Ed). I came down on the last weekend of the festival and would you believe it - the sun was out! I didn't understand what the team were going on about. I brought clothes for all types of weather as advised.

This year though, I could tell that it wasn't going to be great. The drive down from London was grey and grim (unlike last year when the sun was blazing down). Then when we arrived, it was cloudy and grey (but no rain - a plus point indeed). When we arrived, I parked the car in a pool of mud. So, wellies were definitely needed. After announcing our arrival at Hay, we went into town to get Carla some wellies and we could well and truly then start our Hay 21 experience.

First up, the most important thing was to get some lunch down us. I'd been driving since 7.45am (this was Tuesday) and so was very hungry and worn out from the drive. After lunch, it was time to attend the Hay-On-Sky filming. Guests were Nick Broomfield, Jo Wood and Jasper Fforde. I'd been watching the show at home and enjoying it so far so it's always exciting to see it being filmed live.

After the filming I went to my first event. It was about the fact that every single one of us has multiple and competing selves. This is different from multiple personality disorder. Rita Carter, the author, talked about how we all have many selves that we bring out dependant on who we are with. Apparently, women have more multiple selves than men because of something that connects the two lobes of our brains together (it's bigger apparently!). It was very interesting and made me think that that is quite true. Tracy at home is different from Tracy at work and Tracy with family is different from Tracy with friends. I won't go into the science of it (mainly cos I can't remember it) but let me tell you that it was very enjoyable.

On the way back I bumped into the Dom Joly team recording one of the pieces for the show. I just heard drumming and thought, what's going on here? I missed most of it but you can see what I managed to catch below.

In the evening, I had a dilemma. I wanted to attend the What The Dickens? recording as I'd been hearing through the week how funny it was and how it was going very well. But Jeremy Clarkson was also on at the same time. I'm not a huge fan of cars (I go by colour: that green car over there, that small blue car, that ugly one over there etc.) but I love watching Top Gear. I just think that they are a fab trio of presenters who just bounce off each other. It's funny and the reports they do are just crazy. So I compromised. I went to the first half of Jeremy Clarkson and then left in time for the recording of What The Dickens? Jeremy Clarkson was very good. He was very funny. He talked about how by driving a 500cc car, he's actually saving his children from sniffing glue. As he's able to drive home faster, he'll be there to tuck in his children and therefore they would grow up to be better people. So driving a fast car is a good thing. He also got the full support from the audience to take on the role of Prime Minister. He poo-pooed this idea by saying that he's so inconsistent he'd be changing the policies all the time! He also talked about how he first started out in journalism. Was it because he's always wanted to write about cars? No, he found out that he could get to drive a different car each week.

I enjoyed this session so much, I had to tear myself away. This meant that I got to the Sky Arts tent too late and wasn't able to get a seat in the studio. But not to fear, I sat in the Sky Arts production office and watched it there and played along and didn't get quite as much as I did in the online quiz (11 out of 12 for those who ask) but enjoyed it nonetheless.

After the quiz, we went out for a drink in town and ended up talking into the late hours. My first day at Hay was full and tiring.... and there was no rain!

Oh, but then day 2 arrived and I woke up to rain, rain and more rain. Hmm, maybe I should have got some waterproofs. Everyone was asking me why I didn't come prepared. Well, the optimist in me was thinking that it would all be OK like last year. Well..... hmmm.... I was then asked why I didn't bring any waterproofs. I have a car and that's my waterproof. I don't get wet. Also, I don't go outside when it rains. Problem solved. Except that on this day, I had organised to follow the Dom Joly team around, led by the lovely Marina. It was pouring down and it didn't look like it was going to let up at all.

I attended the Marcus Brigstocke 'The Early Edition' session where he goes through the daily papers with some guests. It was good fun although he clearly doesn't like Jeremy Clarkson. Some of the stories covered in the paper? A ship called HMS Lusty (though mind you, that was the nickname, they couldn't find out what the official name was), how to cook squirrels (with 2 recipes), and some others that I can't think of at the moment.

After this event, it stopped raining (hurrah!) and I walked into town to browse the shops and meet the production team outside Pemberton's Book Store. I then met the team of Marina (producer), Colin (soundman), Paul (cameraman and driver) and Dom Joly (talent). I'd never been on a location shoot before (unless you count my attempts at making my own films when I was at uni) and it was really interesting. I learned more about sound and cameras and was there at first hand to see how Dom is able to come up with things on the spot. It was great. They filmed the piece where Dom is looking for his own book. I met Dave Gorman too but after he did his bit, he went off.

Then it started again.... the rain...... and it was getting worse and worse. As I said before, I don't go out in the rain normally but when you're at Hay, you have to. I got completely soaked at one stage where Dom goes to see a fortune teller and I was standing at the side watching. That piece was the longest that they'd shot in one go. The rain was dripping from my hat and at this point I thought, hmmm, maybe I should invest in waterproofs. I thought it was hilarious though and how funny we must've looked and so got a quick video of it. I was then sent inside as I was probably looking pretty miserable. But it was really interesting to follow the crew around and to see how they work together. Dom is a very funny man and the crew seemed to have got used to the torrential rain by now. Shooting on location is very challenging though and I admire them for having been doing this day in day out since Hay started (especially as there was thunder and lightning at one point).

After drying up (but only a little mind), I sat in the audience this time for What The Dickens? And to my surprise, found none other than Kathleen Turner sitting a seat away from me. At one point, she turned to me and said, I don't know where my friends have gone. How surreal is that? But only at Hay.... The set for the show is brilliant and I have no idea how they will be able to cut everything into a half hour programme. Sandi Toksvig is a brilliant quiz host. I can't wait to see the other shows.

In the evening, it was Jools Holland. I'd been looking forward to this ever since I got the Hay brochure. Again, dilemma: it was the What The Dickens? wrap party and Jools at the same time. But as I'd wanted to see Jools, I thought I'd go to the party afterwards. Jools Holland was on top form and had his band there and some guest singers, one of them being Marc Almond. At first people were all seated but by the end of it almost everyone was standing up dancing away. I'm so glad I didn't miss it. He played the piano (of course) and also the guitar (I didn't realise he played other instruments). It was good fun and went on longer than the earlier show he played.

After Jools, we went to the wrap party to find that it had already finished :( Apparently there were balloons, party food and drinks, oh and Kathleen Turner turned up too. How glam is that? I did manage to get some of the party food before heading off back home where we played Who's In The Bag? before heading off to bed.

I'm a bit sad that today is my last day. The sun has come out finally! I had one more session to go to which was The World Without Us where we had to imagine what the world would be like if humans were to disappear tomorrow. Nature would take over completely and a lot of the structures that humans have erected would come down. Alan Weisman also pointed out that a decade ago there were 1.1 billion people in the world, then 6.5 billion (I could be slightly wrong here so please don't quote me on it) and now there are 9 billion people on this planet. He suggested that if we (as in the whole world) were to adopt the 1 child policy of China, the population would go down again to 1.1 billion. That's an interesting thought. Alan is not saying that we should but just poses the question. He's not saying that he wants to get rid of humans but that we need to find a better way of making humans and nature live together. I was very interested in learning more and went to get his book in the book shop here where he was also signing but it was sold out!

And that was my time at Hay. I've had a wonderful time here and can't wait to come back next year (where I will be more prepared).

Tracy, Waterproofless Person

Hay blog - it's sunny... and rainy. Very rainy

2008-05-25T09:57:00.000-07:00

First day - get to Hereford at six and get to Hay via a Neil Diamond-loving taxi driver. The new ablbum's good and we have a "Name That Tune" moment as he runs though his CD sorter seeing if we know our Green Day from our Squeeze.

The Sky studio at Hay is very impressive. Everyone's working hard having recorded the first Hay On Sky programme and now it's gearing up for the pilot of our new cultural quiz show What the Dickens? A full house to see Sandi Toksvig work her comedy magic on the audeince and panel alike. My favourite bit was her story about being asked to interview Benny from ABBA, getting up at the crack of dawn to schlep over to Sweden only to press the buzzer at Chez Benny to hear a voice say "oh, I forgot you were coming". Sandi's reply isn't repeatable here but watch the show. Dan, Alyssa and I then get to slope off to see the cult Touareg rockers Tinariwen - as mixed an audience as you can imagine - 7 to 70 - Sahara-rock obviously more popular than you'd imagine.

The lovely Annalisa then drops us at our accomodation, 5 miles outside of Hay, a lovely farmhouse. City boys that we are Dan and I recieve minor head trauma courtesy of the ceilings/beams.

Saturday - up at the crack of dawn (well 8am) as Dan and Alyssa have tickets for a 9am session. I realise that my first session is 4.30pm but hey (or "Hay"?) time to go exploring. Well, after breakfast. Hay's an amazing place - bookshops everywhere, very laid back and, for one day only, the sun's out! Spend the morning taking photos for Sinead for the website and the blog. Chat with Jon Burgerman who's creating art in the Sky Arts experiential area - hugely popular with festival goers who can grab pens and colour in the work and add their own embelishments. Nice guy, lives in Nottingham so we chat about the place (we both went to Nottingham Trent Uni and he lives near where I used to in Sneinton). A brief trip ito Hay and spot a jazz Xylophone player - only in Hay (or possibly as an accompany to Ron Burgundy).

Off to see Gore Vidal is interviewed by Adam Boulton. Vidal's witty but prickly but very entertaining (a medla to Adam Boulton though for such a great job hosting and keepign things going). Vidal's a star though and this audience obviously are in awe as he gives his views on politics, art, history and, in response to an audience question, the young. "What advice would you give to yong people today?". "Grow up!". Book Show recording goes well - top guests too with Salman Rushdie, Christopher Hitchins and Fey Weldon. Make note to buy Hitchins' book.

Food! Go for dinner at the Black Lion pub. Rory McGrath and a couple of the editors are at the bar. Naomi Kline's looking to get somethign to eat (I think it's her) and we're in the quiet restaurant at the back. Relax. A bottle of wine and great meal later we have a slight hitch. How the hell do we get home? All the cabs in the area are booked for hours and we're five miles away. Oh yeah, we don't have a map either. Throw ourselves at the mercy of Annalisa who's at the other Sky house in Hay itself. Annalisa and Sinead are watching Eurovision. A small price to pay for getting home. A glass of wine, some chocolate, the ice dancing Michael Flatley and an argument over whetehr the sequel to "Pot Luck" is any good later, we're home.

Sunday

This is more like it - rain. In Biblical proportions. More photos for the web - slight contrast to yesterday. Jimmy Carter's in for a pre-recorded segment for today's show. Trusty camera in hand I wait with a Guardian photographer for Tony the floor manager to give us the nod for 2mins to grab some pics. Off with the wellies and up on stage to grab some shots of Mariella and Jimmy on the sofa. Crap photographer that I am 2 are usuable but that's all we need.

Cross paths with Mr Carter later when Dan, Alyssa and I are walking around to grab some tea and Dan is donning a free festival ponchos. Just as the wind catches it and he inflates like a giant smurf, Jimmy Carter (cluthcing a Pimms?) and his small entourage turn the corner. Spot Jimmy doing a double take as Dan inflates.

Buy my son some books by Julia Donaldson of "Gruffalo" fame - Dan says he saw the Gruffalo walking around earlier (part of an earlier session or Dan's losing it?).

Book Show recording this afternoon - Rory McGrath, A L Kennedy and Nina Conti are the guests. Very funny show with all on good form. Nina Conti and Monk win over the team here with people who saw her performance vowing to see her on tour. Tony the floor manager moves some of us in to the seats vacated by the guests. Get e-mail afterwards from colleague back in London taking in the live feed saying "I can see you on the telly".

Brave the pouring rain to venture back into Hay to buy essesentials - milk, paracetamol and fags ready for tonight's party.

Adrian, slightly damp but unable to spell

Day 2 -Best bits of Hay...

2008-05-24T13:55:00.000-07:00

The Hay Festival is just fabulous this year - it really goes from strength to strength. We've had some great guests on our daily show Hay-on Sky including Salman Rushdie, Fay Wheeldon and Tim Smit and the first episode of What the Dickens had everyone in stitches. Sandi Toksvig is hysterically funny - if you have not been to see the show you are definately missing out!

Tonight has been a particular highlight for me as I made my way over to the Blas Cafe to direct everyone to their seats for the annual Sky Dinner. The glitterati of the festival poured in and I took my place at the back with the security folk. That is when it happened - Ex US President Jimmy Carter arrived and shook my hand and said ''Good evening Sweetheart''!! To top everything off the sun came out today too - one could not ask for more!

Annalisa (a very contented Production Co-ordinator)

Sunshine, thunder & lightning and two TV shows!

2008-05-23T13:23:00.000-07:00

So the first day at the Hay Festival was an eventful one. We went from bright hot sunshine to thunder, lightning and hammering rain...coming prepared with both factor 30 sunblock AND wellies was the right thing to do after all!

One of the nicest things we've got going on here, apart from filming Hay-on-Sky and What The Dickens?, is a series of colouring-in walls, drawn for us each day by the artist Jon Burgerman. The visitors to the Hay Festival then pick up one of our paint pens and colour whatever part of the picture they fancy. Community art-making at its finest...

The first Hay-on-Sky show of '08 went well - as did the recording of What The Dickens? but you'll have to wait 'til Wednesday to watch What The Dickens? I'm afriad! If you've missed tonight's transmission of Hay-on-Sky (was at 8pm) then don't worry - it's repeated again later and we'll have some of the highlights available on our HAY-ON-SKY website tomorrow: http://www.skyarts.co.uk/hay

For now though...watch this little bit of webcam footage we took at Jon Burgerman's art walls today: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV4wLOKJriA

Sinead, Editor In Field.

Hay! We're coming back!

2008-04-07T10:03:00.001-07:00

We're all really excited that we're coming back to Hay-On-Wye again this year for what promises to be a great 10 days of glorious HD broadcasting for us and a great festival for all book lovers.

***

This is where the team will be sharing the stories of what goes on behind the scenes on such a massive production and we should have a few amusing photos and web videos to share with you too... Join us from from May 23rd when it all gets underway - until then, see what's on Sky Arts today and relax in front of something cultural and entertaining :-)

Sky Arts' scheduler Tracy measures up against the literary giants at last year's Hay Festival